Judge Hears Both Sides in Calvary Church Lawsuit

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Channel 9 learned new details Monday about the lawsuit against a south Charlotte church. Eyewitness News has reported since January that more than a dozen families claim Calvary Church’s day care discriminated against their children and kicked them out because they have disabilities.

Attorneys for four families listed on the lawsuit are trying to add at least one more family. “The more people who come forward with allegations the more substantiated those allegations are,” said Josh Van Kampen, attorney for the families.

One of the allegations is a teacher at the church preschool wouldn’t check the blood glucose level of a child with diabetes. The church’s attorney argued Monday there isn’t a requirement for Calvary to provide medical care, only to call parents and a doctor.

“What would happen if a child was cut and bleeding profusely? Do they not have a duty to administer first aid?” the judge asked.

“They certainly would do that,” Van Kampen said.

“Well, that’s not what you said,” the judge said.

One of the reasons the church’s attorney wants the lawsuit thrown out is because only the parents are listed as plaintiffs and not the children.

“The only parties who could be considered are children,” church attorney Mel Garofalo said. “They’re not named as plaintiffs.”

Van Kampen showed the judge what he said is a new provision in the school contract that allows the director to kick out kids solely at her discretion. “Before there was a discriminatory policy that was concealed,” Van Kampen said. “We filed a lawsuit and now they made it explicit.”

The judge said he will review the arguments from both sides and issue his decision on whether the case will be dismissed at a later time.